Quote of the day: Does Clarence the angel know about this?

Here's Digby on Senate Democrats and Republicans playing chicken over extending emergency unemployment benefits last week (Republicans wanted to block it, Democrats wanted to adjourn for two weeks, and any laid-off workers wanting the extension were out of luck):

Every time this happens, a little teabagger gets her wings.

Refresh my memory: Which one was Old Man Potter again?

A chicken (wing) in every pot: A report from the front lines

I heard about it via Twitter, but everyone else seemed to hear about it on the radio.

The practical upshot was that the new Buffalo Wild Wings restaurant, which replaced the Hooters, which replaced a Japanese restaurant here in town, had its grand opening this morning, and the first 100 (or maybe 95; there was some confusion) people through the door got free chicken wings once a week for a year.

Last night at around midnight I swung by out of curiosity, and found there were about 30 people huddled against the building. It was raining lightly (what we here in Oregon call "dew") and the temperature was in the mid-40s. There were also two nice REI-grade double tents set up on the sidewalk. At first the squatters eyed me a little suspiciously, even though there was room in line for about 70 more people, so cutting in line was neither very likely nor very threatening. Still, I felt a little like Tom Joad pulling into a migrant camp along Route 66. When I began doing a quick head-count, someone joked that I must be from the Census Bureau.

I asked the crowd--I'd guess most were under 30 and there were several children--how many were in line because they just really, really loved wings. Most of them laughed and raised their hands. Then I asked how many were there because they wanted to make sure they'd be able to afford at least one meal a week for the next year. A few hands came down.

If I had to guess, there might have been more iPhones and Blackberrys in the line than sleeping bags.

Near the door, some of the restaurant crew had set up a pop-up canopy/tent and was serving wings to the folks in line. Or at least, it appeared, they served wings until they ran out--which was almost immediately--then a while later brought out another batch, which disappeared about as quickly.

Before I went home to bed--my nice, dry, warm bed--I tweeted about the folks in line:

People are already in line for the opening of the Buffalo Wings in Beaverton. 15 hours early. In the dark. In the rain. 1 yr of free wings.

When the tweet migrated to Facebook, it prompted several comments from friends: "nuts," "sad," and "food lines" appeared at various points throughout the thread. There were also recommendations for better places to get wings, especially if it was going to involve standing in line all night in the rain.

But I was still thinking about the line this morning, so at about 8:30 (the opening was scheduled for 11:00) I went by again. To my surprise, there were about 50 people, but probably no more.

And--here's where the story takes a bit of a turn--the little group closest to the entrance (who seemed to be most in the know) told me that the restaurant crew, for whatever reason but probably including sympathy for people who spent the night in the rain, decided to start letting people in at 9:00am, rather than 11:00. Near the back of the building where I had locked my bike were several guys from the contractor, waiting to finish last-minute work inside, and a little irked by some delay. I wondered if the delay was that the opening had been bumped up two hours--two hours that were supposed to be for them to finish up.

Nine o'clock? Hm. It wasn't raining, I didn't have to be anywhere until early afternoon, I was on my bike, so I was dressed for the weather.

What the hell.

And so for the next hour or so, I was no longer just an observer. I was now about Number 60 in line, not necessarily a True Believer, but part of the Chicken Wing Pilgrimage all the same. The rain returned. A woman in line behind me held a golf umbrella in one hand and with the other held a Laura Ingalls Wilder paperback as she read to her daughters. The two fellows in front of me reviewed the pluses and minuses of the late lamented Hooters that had gone under last fall. (Lots of TV screens was mentioned as an advantage.) I considered trying to start The Wave, but my luck with that has never been very good.

When the doors finally opened, they brought us in about ten at a time, and my cohort nipped inside at a little after 10:00. The tables were festooned with promotional items and balloons, and most people stayed to have chicken wings for breakfast/brunch. I still had my business to take care of, so like maybe one or two out of each ten, I thanked the staff, took a take-out menu and split.

With my book of coupons.

By the time I left, everyone was inside and I'm pretty sure that there were still less than 100 people, although it was close.

I've never had wings from Buffalo Wild Wings--any advice to prepare me for the experience would be welcome.

The book of coupons runs from this week through the end of March 2011.

The Oregon News Limerick Challenge on KPOJ

Special this week: Carl answers the burning question: Is he, or is he not, a public numismatist?

The weekly p3 Oregon news limerick challenge

(Update: Answers are in the Comments section, below.)

For security and safety reasons, the answers to this week's p3 Oregon News Limericks have been hidden under seat 17, aisle 9, row 22 in Hinkle Fieldhouse until 7:15 Monday morning, at which time they will retrieved and read by quizmaster TJ of Loaded Orygun, and answered by Carl, Christine, and Paul, on KPOJ 620AM's Carl + Christine show.

The answers will be posted in the comments section below after the show's over.

Ready? Begin!

It's a low-carbon-footprint fan's dream:
Down in Klamath Falls, "green" reigns supreme.
And the town, to confirm'll
Say "We Heart Geothermal"
Their energy plan's gathering ____________.


Keeping hydrated? Everyone oughter,
But the cost and waste make it fraughter.
Still, the state could help out
Through its purchasing clout
By declining to buy _______________.


Steelhead trout and bicycling cavorters
Had their own numismatic supporters.
But it's all to the good,
For we'll soon see Mt. Hood
On the backs of our __________________.

Bonus limerick: Mad Kane declares Mitt Romney to be both fearless and peerless, although not necessarily in a good way.>

Sunday morning toons: Special "Sudden Turns of Events" edition

It has indeed been a week of sudden turns of events:

Now that Obama's health care package is law, Democrats get to take a breather . . . by focusing on immigration reform, banking reform, or jobs--take your pick.

Perhaps there's some hope for bipartisanship after all: Watching the GOP go through a post-health care reform passage auto da fe of mutual recrimination, banishment of the insufficiently devout, circular firing squads, fear and loathing of their own base, and desperate groping for a new plan (any plan!) . . . . it feels almost like watching the Democrats of years gone by.

Watching Google finally step back from the China market, it looks like someone there finally unearthed one of their old corporate t-shirts . . . one of the ones with "Don't be evil." on the front.

Joe Biden kinda sorta shot his mouth off again . . . and this time it was welcome.

And the less reprehensible thing about Pope Benedict XVI turns out to be . . . his time as a member of the Hitler Youth. Who'da thunk?

Let's kick things off, as usual, with Daryl Cagle's toon round-up for the week.

p3 Picks of the Week: Mike Luckovich, Mike Lester, Nate Beeler, John Trever, John Darkow, David Fitzsimmons, Jimmy Margulies, Adam Zyglis, John Cole, Ed Stein, Jeff Darcy, Bill Schorr, Steve Benson, and Monte Wolverton,

p3 Best in Show: R. J. Matson.

p3 Appreciation for Stirring Up the Biggest Hornets Nest on My Facebook News Feed This Week: Mitt Priggee.

p3 Award for Best Adaptation from Another Medium (tie): Steve Sack and Rob Rogers.

p3 World Toon Review: Patrick Chappatte (Switzerland), Stephane Peray (Thailand), Ingrid Rice (Canada), Jeremy Nell (South Africa), and Olle Johannson (Sweden).


It's an Ann Telnaes triple-play this week: Who cast the first stone? Is sunshine over-rated? and What's that up ahead?


Mark Fiore investigates where those socialist organ-harvesters must have hidden all the tricky parts.


Pratfalling through life: The NYTimes reviews the memoir ofJules Feiffer, long-time cartoonist at The Village Voice.


Brewing up trouble: The illustration by Barry Blitt accompanying today's NYTimes op-ed by Frank Rich offers you a wide selection for your theastic pleasure.


Portland homeboy Jack Ohman tours the great wall.


Guest animation Here's a little oddity from the 1950 sci-fi movie "Destination: Moon," based in part on Robert Heinlein's first piece of juvenile fiction, Rocket Ship Galileo. Heinlein, as readers know, went to some pains to get the science basically right in his novels, often getting a tad on the pedantic side in the process. In this film--which assumes that space travel will be a private enterprise, not a government program--the basic physics of a rocket trip to the moon is explained to a room full of potential investors using, of all things, a Woody Woodpecker film, directed by Walter Lantz, made for the occasion. (I can't track it down for certain, but I don't think that Lantz's wife Grace is voicing Woody this time, although she usually did.)

No p3 Bonus Toon this week: Jesse Springer is on hiatus, a Greek word meaning "didn't send me anything."


Remember to bookmark:

Slate's political cartoon for the day.

And Time's cartoons of the week.

Quote of the day: Losing Indiana the hard way

Charles Pierce on the fallout from John McCain's selection of Sarah Palin as his 2008 running mate:

[. . . ] her innate clownishness had made her (and him) such a laughing stock that the Republican ticket lost in places like Indiana to a black man whose middle name was "Hussein"

Verily.

Saturday morning tunes: Jerry and Larry Alder

Earlier this month, harmonica virtuoso Jerry Alder died at 91. From the NYTimes obituary:

Jerry Adler, a harmonica virtuoso whose pure, open sound can be heard on the soundtracks to “Shane,” “High Noon,” “Mary Poppins” and other films, but who labored in the shadow of his more famous harmonica-playing older brother, Larry, died on March 13 in Ellenton, Fla. He was 91 and lived in Sarasota. […]

Unlike Larry, who devoted himself to classical music, Jerry stuck with popular tunes. He was highly sought after as a soloist in films from the 1940s through the 1960s. His credits include the soundtracks for “Shane,” “High Noon,” “The Alamo,” “You Can’t Take It With You,” “Mary Poppins” and “My Fair Lady.”

When stars needed to pick up the instrument for a film role, he showed them how to fake it with conviction, secure in the knowledge that he would be recording the notes offstage. He tutored James Stewart in “Pot o’ Gold” (1941) and Van Johnson in “The Romance of Rosy Ridge” (1947). In the 1953 Kirk Douglas film “The Juggler,” he appeared onscreen taking a solo in a campfire scene.

Hilliard Gerald Adler was born on Oct. 30, 1918, in Baltimore. After establishing a solo career, he enlisted in the Army Air Corps and was assigned to an entertainment unit in Santa Ana, Calif., which cast him in “Winged Victory,” Moss Hart’s star-packed Broadway morale-booster about pilots in training. He also appeared in the film version, directed by George Cukor, which was released in 1944. […]

Beginning in the 1950s, Mr. Adler found steady work performing on cruise ships, which provided a good living for decades. In the 1980s, when the cruise ships became too onerous, he began performing on the Florida condo circuit. He often appeared with pops orchestras, usually performing the music of George Gershwin.

Here, at a meeting of the SPAH (Society for the Preservation and Advancement of the Harmonica) in 1995, the two brothers share the stage--just barely--on a phenomenal performance of George Gershwin's "Rhapsody in Blue." The sound is slightly out of sync, and the film quality is iffy at points, but it's still an amazing thing to witness. According to one of the YouTube commenters, the player piano is running a roll created from a performance by Gershwin himself.

When in doubt, have a man come through the door with a gun in his hand.

Today's the 51st anniversary of the death of Raymond Chandler. Wherever you turn for life's wisdom, trust me on this: Chandler's better.


On relationships:

Alcohol is like love. The first kiss is magic, the second is intimate, the third is routine. After that you take the girl's clothes off.

On trust:

I knew one thing: as soon as anyone said you didn't need a gun, you'd better take one along that worked.

On first impressions:

From 30 feet away she looked like a lot of class. From 10 feet away she looked like something made up to be seen from 30 feet away.

On mortality:

What did it matter where you lay once you were dead? In a dirty sump or in a marble tower on top of a high hill? You were dead, you were sleeping the big sleep, you were not bothered by things like that. Oil and water were the same as wind and air to you.

On the author's voice:

The most durable thing in writing is style, and style is the most valuable investment a writer can make with his time. It pays off slowly, your agent will sneer at it, your publisher will misunderstand it, and it will take people you have never heard of to convince them by slow degrees that the writer who puts his individual mark on the way he writes will always pay off.

On method:

Everything a writer learns about the art or craft of fiction takes just a little away from his need or desire to write at all. In the end he knows all the tricks and has nothing to say.

On language:

Would you convey my compliments to the purist who reads your proofs and tell him or her that I write in a sort of broken-down patois which is something like the way a Swiss waiter talks, and that when I split an infinitive, God damn it, I split it so it will stay split, and when I interrupt the velvety smoothness of my more or less literate syntax with a few sudden words of bar-room vernacular, that is done with the eyes wide open and the mind relaxed but attentive.

Reading: Billmon on disinformation

Yesterday I mentioned that Republican Eric Cantor's complaint that he, too, was a victim of the same sort of political violence (or threats thereof) directed toward Democratic members of Congress in recent days would be welcomed by the mainstream news media as permission to fit the story into the "both sides are to blame" narrative structure that they're most comfortable with.

In a reply to a comment from Chuck Butcher, who pointed out follow-up reports documenting that there was absolutely no basis in--for want of a better term--fact for Cantor's claim, I added this:

[T]he point is, this is apt to become a Zombie Lie that will continue to walk the earth even though it's been disproved multiple times, simply because its importance to the required narrative ["see? both sides are guilty!"] trumps the niggling fact that it isn't true.

Billmon, in a welcome return at DailyKos, has a really strong diary entry about the inner rhetorical workings of this strategy in Republican hands. Here's a taste:

The basic objective of all this, as I wrote way back when, is very simple:

The goal is to confront the public with two sides hurling identical charges at each other -- the better to convince them that it's just another partisan mudfight and who the hell knows . . . anyway.

Go read the whole thing. Don't get caught up about the title--he's kidding. But his point is dead serious. And dead right.

Proof? Billmon notes this headline from today's NYTimes:

Accusations Fly Between Parties Over Threats and Vandalism

Why bother distinguishing the facts of the matter when storylines like this are so much simpler?

Billmon's diary is going on the much-neglected Reading list in the sidebar.

The unforgiving minute

In media centers across America, news editors and producers are breathing a huge collective sigh of relief, since the growing stream of "political violence" stories can now be covered as something in which the left and right are somehow equally to blame.

House Minority Whip Eric Cantor just gave a brief speech accusing Democrats of using reports of recent threats of violence for political gain, and saying someone shot a bullet through the window of his campaign office this week.

It may not be the only kind of story they know how to do, but it's the only kind they're comfortable doing.

Minute's up.

GOP discovers they work for FOX, not the other way around

Interesting times.

Who'd have thought David "I Coined 'Axis of Evil'" Frum would get back-to-back appearances here at p3? Not me, that's for sure.

But it occurred to me that I've never actually seen a man actively campaign to get tarred and feathered by the base of his own party before, so this is kind of fascinating to watch:

Gallup polling reports that favorable reactions to the HCR bill have a 9% edge over unfavorable, and Kos is predicting that, far from making repeal the centerpiece of their November campaign, Republicans will start looking for ways to change the subject.

(Although he doesn't specify whether he means the Republicans in the GOP or their masters in the right-wing media.)

Interesting times.

Ordinary political calculations simply do not apply anymore

David Frum, March 21, 2010:

No illusions please: This bill will not be repealed. Even if Republicans scored a 1994 style landslide in November, how many votes could we muster to re-open the “doughnut hole” and charge seniors more for prescription drugs? How many votes to re-allow insurers to rescind policies when they discover a pre-existing condition? How many votes to banish 25 year olds from their parents’ insurance coverage?

Rep. Steve King (R - Iowa), March 22, 2010:

Mr. KING of Iowa introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on _______________.

A BILL

To repeal the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.
1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
3 SECTION 1. REPEAL OF PPACA.
4 Effective as of the enactment of the Patient Protec-
5 tion and Affordable Care Act, such Act is repealed, and
6 the provisions of law amended or repealed by such Act
7 are restored or revived as if such Act had not been en-
8 acted.

And it only took 24 hours.

Frum's party no longer accepts the legitimacy of a two-party state, if one of them is the Democratic Party. Arguably, this has been the case since 1992.

Frum needs to decide if he's in or out, because the people running the GOP are clearly not listening to him. "I invented the phrase 'Axis of Evil'" won't even get him a bus ride home from the next Tea Party rally.

Quote of the day: the GOP's frozen moment

Here's Vanity Fair's James Wolcott's utterly apt characterization of the post-HCR passage conservative blogosphere:

Unhappy with the naked lunch at the end of their forks . . .

The weekly Oregon news limerick challenge

(Update: TJ of Loaded Orygun, Carl, and Christine had what the beltway types call a full and frank exchange of views on last night's health care reform vote this morning on KPOJ's Carl + Christine show, the practical upshot being that the time traditionally allotted to limericks was given to the Great Health Care Cage Match instead. [The podcast is here.] It made good talk radio, but it was bad news for those loyal radio fans of my limericks--and I know you're out there somewhere--who were denied their dose of lowbrow art for a second week in a row.

Still, the answers to this week's limericks are now in the Comments, below. Tune back in next week and keep your fingers crossed)


For security and safety reasons, the answers to this week's Oregon News Limericks have been duct-taped to the hair on Rep. Bart Stupak's leg until 7:15 Monday morning, at which time they will removed--very, very slowly--and read by quizmaster TJ of Loaded Orygun, and answered by Carl, Christine, and Paul, on the KPOJ 620AM's Carl + Christine show.

The answers will be posted in the comments section below after the show's over.

Ready? Begin!

In Culver, crime shows no increase
But locals aren't feeling at peace.
Yes, a Barney or Andy
Would really be handy--
They're a small town in need of _________________.

The huge mammals' prospects seemed pale,
But they're now on the path to prevail.
So flag down Kirk and Scotty--
Once their numbers were spotty,
But it's looking up for __________________.

Some schools have to wrestle with mugging,
School-yard slugging, or even hard-drugging.
Now we add something new
To the list of taboos:
Unacceptable levels of ________________ .

Bonus limerick: What caused the "deem and pass" idea to get dropped? Mad Kane has a theory.

Sunday morning toons: Special "Rabbititis" edition

There were a lot of health care reform-related toons this week, but a surprising number hinged on jokes about "deeming" or "reconciliation," meaning that by the weekend they were obsolete. And they're just getting warmed up on March Madness, which--alas--is used to describe basketball tournaments, and not the Texas schoolbook selection process, as it probably should be.

Let's get started, as usual, with Daryl Cagle's toon round-up for this week.

p3 Picks of the Week: Mike Luckovich, Pat Bagley, Mike Keefe, Jef Parker, Michael Ramirez, Steve Sack, Jeff Stahler, Bill Day, Gary Varvel, and Monte Wolverton,

p3 Best of Show: R. J. Matson.

p3 Legion of Merit: Ed Stein.

p3 Grimm Truth Award: Bill Schorr.

p3 March Madness/HCR Harmonic Toon Convergence Award: Adam Zyglis and Henry Payne.

p3 World Toon Review: Igor Kodenko (Ukraine), Alexandr Zudin (Russia), Stephane Peray (Thailand), Patrick Chappatte, (Switzerland) and Cam Cardow (Canada).


Ann Telnaes takes out the trash.


Mark Fiore salutes the March of the Un-Gay. It gets odd, but stay with it.


Robert Altman's "Popeye" was the focus this week at Lance Mannion's ongoing First Virtual I Hate Robert Altman Film Festival.


I always said that if anyone could capture the weird, loosely-wrapped, ensemble joy of the early Fleischer Popeye toons (to say nothing of the Thimble Theater strip where Popeye originated on January 17, 1929, above), it would be Altman. The question is, did he pull it off? (Image via Wikipedia. Click to enlarge.)


All the King's (Super)men: Last October I noted that the heirs of legendary Marvel (and, for a while, DC) artist Jack "King" Kirby--whose creations were box office gold for most of the last decade--were working to assert control over the intellectual property (and the revenue stream) his huge body of work represents. The story was complicated to begin with, involving intellectual property law and the rights of Marvel Entertainment Group, plus Sony, Fox, and Disney; and it just got a lot more complicated recently, for reasons it'll be easier if you just go read about. If intellectual property rights law isn't your cup of tea, read it for the story of uber-lawyer Marc Toberoff, a man who once pitched the idea of an intellectual-rights lawsuit to the still-grieving wife of the creator of Casper the Friendly Ghost.


Kevin Moore pays tribute to Alex Chilton.


Portland homeboy Jack Ohman reminds us that politics is the art of the possible, in a cartoon that will make absolutely no sense to anyone outside the metro area.


Twapped with a cwazy, contaminated wabbit! "Hare Tonic," directed by Chuck Jones in 1945, is one of my favorite Bugs Bunny toons. The story is classic Bugs-bedeviling-Elmer, and the camera angles, the swooping shifts in perspective, the fluid motion, the apparent physical heft of the characters (without which the necktie gag would never work)--all make this just a lovely little piece of eye-candy.

No p3 Bonus Toon this week; Jesse Springer's on hiatus.


Remember to bookmark:

Slate's political cartoon for the day.
And Time's cartoons of the week.

And not a moment too soon, either

Spring officially arrived one minute ago, at 10:32am Pacific. This gratifying event was first reported by Mrs. Dorothy Stetson of Freeport, Long Island, who promptly telephoned the Mayor.

The Society for Affirming the End of the World at once went into a special session and postponed the arrival of that event for TWENTY-FOUR HOURS.

All honor to Mrs. Stetson for her public spirit.

Saturday morning tunes: "Please don't let them look down on us"

From the David Byrne/Fatboy Slim album, the title track "Please Don't," with vocals by Santigold.

Writes Byrne:

Most of the lyrics on this one are lifted gently from interviews and quotations — the “please don’t” chorus especially. At some point as first lady, Imelda [Marcos] began to feel that she could help Philippine interests by charming world leaders into seeing things her way. “Handbag diplomacy” she called it — as she liked to imply that to solve a problem, she could bypass President Marcos and just grab a handbag and hop on a plane with some of her assistants.

Quote of the day: On face-eating and the White Album

From Charles Pierce:

This twit [Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa)] is a member of Congress. Vaclav Havel should come to Washington and beat him to death with a copy of The White Album. Alexander Dubcek should come back from the dead and eat his face.

The context--for those of you who need it, as if the imagery alone weren't enough--is here.

Those who do not understand history are doomed to say very foolish things about it.

The weekly Oregon news limerick challenge

This week was a departure from the routine. Struggling heroically against symptoms we won't go into here, I texted TJ of Loaded Orygun with the word: He was on his own, limerick-wise, this week. He cowboyed up and produced the following rhymes, thrown down for Carl, Christine, and Paul, on the KPOJ 620AM's Carl + Christine show.

In the process, I like to think TJ--and all of us, really--learned an important lesson: Poetry ain't pretty. So there's no p3 limerick challenge this week; just TJ putting his metrical thing down.

Bonus limerick: This week Mad Kane asks a question I've wondered about myself: Why is it that conservatives always seem to go there?

Sunday morning toons: Special "Hyman Roth Tribute" edition

Hyman Roth has been dying from the same heart attack for the last twenty years.

Michael Corleone, "The Godfather, Part II"

Like Roth, health care reform has been in its "end-game" stage for months--certainly since before Christmas, arguably since late June. At least if you listen to the talking heads.

(Of course now, some five or six decades after the events in the "Godfather" sequel, very few Americans could financially afford to survive that many near-death experiences--except Dick Cheney, perhaps, for whom the government picks up the tab. Note, by the way, that we here at p3 don't mean to draw unfair comparison between Roth and Cheney. Roth, a fictional character based on gangster Meyer Lansky, was, after all, an unindicted crime lord. Cheney, on the other hand, is an unindicted war criminal. So I hope that's clear.)

In any case, the HCR final push--whatever that turns out to mean (see the Legion of Merit award, below)--is topic number one in this week's p3 toon review. (Apparently, some tickling and towel-snapping will be involved too.) As we traditionally do, let's kick things off with Daryl Cagle's toon round-up for the week.

p3 Picks of the Week: Mike Luckovich, Mike Lester, Pat Bagley, R. J. Matson, John Darkow, Steve Sack, Bill Day, Ed Stein, Rob Rogers, Jeff Darcy, Steve Benson, J. D. Crowe, and Monte Wolverton,

p3 Legion of Merit: John Cole.

p3 Award for Best Adaptation from Another Medium (tie): John Trever and Jeff Stahler.

p3 Frank Murphy^* Citation: Jim Day. (^*Look it up.)

p3 World Toon Review: Patrick Chappatte (Switzerland), Stephane Peray (Thailand), Pavel Constantin, (Romania), Manny Francisco (the Philippines), Ingrid Rice (Canada), and Cam Cardow (Canada).


We've got an Ann Telnaes two-fer this week: First: the wisdom of ethnic profiling; second: is that the pitter-patter of little feet? Nope.


Mark Fiore exposes the latest devilish plan of the congressional Democrats.


Disappointing: I generally like Michael Ramirez's stuff, especially his dazed-looking Democratic donkeys, but there are times I wish he could forget he was drawing for IBD.


Lance Mannion theorizes that Garry Trudeau is writing the satirical novel of our time--one panel at a time.


Update: Remember the Danish cartoonist accused of blasphemy and attacked in his home by an axe-weilding zealot? He was eventually relocated to Sweden for his safety, but apparently things are only marginally safer there:

BELFAST, Northern Ireland (AP) -- Irish police arrested seven people Tuesday over an alleged plot to kill a Swedish artist who depicted the Prophet Muhammad with the body of a dog.

Just to be clear, the newest target is a different artist.


Savage complaints about minor inconveniences: Kind of sounds like a lost Tom Robbins novel, doesn't it? In fact, it's the Comics Curmudgeon's tribute to They'll Do It Every Time, placing the hoary one-panel wonder in its proper historical/anthropological context.


Portland homeboy Jack Ohman scores big this week.


The problem of pre-existing conditions: Let's begin with Too Much Information: Back in the day, I had a series of not-remotely-pleasant clinic sessions with a dermatologist. The saving grace of this experience was that the dermatologist herself was amazingly hot. (Yes, my life at the time was that nearly driven by sitcom premises. Alas, she also had that Doctor McCoy-like conviction that suffering was good for the soul--or sole, in my case--and was amazingly stingy with the pain-killers. But that's another story.) The point is, Popeye and Bluto can probably relate. From 1945, here's "For Better or Nurse," directed by Izzy Sparber, about the love-sick sailors' pursuit of, uhm, adequate coverage. It's dedicated to what may or may not be the end of the whole health care reform mish-mash.

p3 Bonus Toon: Glancing up from the business section, Jesse Springer observes that, as the stock market goes, so go we all.




Remember to bookmark:

Slate's political cartoon for the day.

And Time's cartoons of the week.

Saturday bonus tune: "With countries, just like with people, it's easy to let the best of yourself slip away."

This just in: Glenn Beck has declared Bruce Springsteen "anti-American." Arrests are expected shortly.

But the Butterball of Liberty is right, you know. Here's Springsteen, caught on tape, indulging in exactly the sort of anti-property rights, blame America first-ism that you'd expect out of a proto-communist crypto-Nazi progressive.

Why does the Boss hate America?

Saturday morning tunes: Rubente dextero

Its title lifted from Milton's Paradise Lost, this classic by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds is featured on a whole string creepy soundtrack albums.

X-phile feature of interest: In the tipping-point episode "Ascension," when the unlucky Virginia highway patrol officer pulls over Duane Barry, driving somewhere along the road to Skyland Mountain in Virginia with the abducted Agent Scully locked in the trunk, this was the song playing on the radio.

The unforgiving minute

(Updated below.)

Who has Tiger Woods retained to help him burnish up his image after the revelations about his multiple-infidelity lifestyle?

This guy:




It's like he's not even trying to convince anyone of his good intentions. Fleischer hasn't even opened his mouth on behalf of his new client and I already disbelieve them both.

Minute's up.

(Update: The marriage only lasted 11 days. Relationships are tricky things.)

Oh, I am so updating my resume over this:

This is the kind of spontaneous publicity - your name on Glenn Beck - that makes people. I'm on Beck! Things are going to start happening to me now.

The unforgiving minute

Regarding the Republican penchant for whining about perceived slights and grievances, Steve at No More Mister Nice Blog may have a point:

I'm not sure what Republicans' motivation is -- personally, I think they really are whining crybabies who can't endure not getting their way even once in a while (they were like this even when they held power, weren't they?). But I think the real reason they keep doing it is that it works politically.

It works because it solves a problem in modern politics, one that affects both parties: what do you do to sustain the loyalty of a large number of ordinary American voters when you either can't improve their lives (because your fat-cat donors won't let you) or won't improve their lives (because you actually agree with the notion that helping fat cats is the proper way to govern)?

Well, if you're not going to make voters happy by doing anything for them, you can at least show them you feel their pain.

Minute's up.

Hey, look! It's a new p3 banner! I wonder if it will be friends!

For some reason, the template for my blog now insists on showing the banner image at the wrong size. I'm still trying to figure out why.

Meanwhile, all I can say is, "Oh, no . . . not again."

(Update: Fixed. Long story. Not interesting. Never mind.)

Drinking Liberally meetings in OR and Southwest WA for March

Here are the regular schedules for the DL chapters in the area. (Click on their link to join their email list. To find the DL chapter near you--there are over 300 hundred of them--go here.)

Vancouver: Next meeting: Tuesday, March 9th.
Meetings: Second and fourth Tuesdays, 7pm, at the Back Alley Bar and Grill, 6503 E. Mill Plain Blvd. (West of Andresen, in a strip mall 1/2 block west of Safeway on the south side of Mill Plain. It's deep in the lot.)

Portland Metro-West: Next meeting: Wednesday, March 10th.
Meetings: Second Wednesday of every month, 7:00pm at Ringo's, 12300 SW Broadway St, (just east of Hall Blvd).

St. Helens Next meeting: Wednesday, March 10th.
Meetings: Second Wednesday of each month, 6:30 pm.

Corvallis: Next meeting: Wednesday, March 10th.
Meetings: Second Wednesday of each Month, 5pm - 7pm at Squirrels, 100 SW 2nd St.

Portland: Next meeting: Thursday, March 11th.
Meetings: Second and fourth Thursdays of the month, at the Lucky Lab Brew Hall at 19th and NW Quimby, Thursday at 7pm.

Salem: Next meeting: Thursday, March 18th.
Meetings: Third Thursday of each month, 7:00 pm, at Browns Towne Lounge, 189 Liberty St NE # 112 (Old Sportstop next to Read Opera House)

And if you appreciate Living Liberally promoting progressive action through social interaction--including keeping the whole Drinking Liberally network up and running--consider sending them a little love via Tipping Liberally. Or check with your chapter host about becoming a regular pledge donor.

So wherever you are, join the Drinking Liberally gang for drinks and political conversation.

And remember: DL encourages everyone to drink, and vote, responsibly.

(Cross-posted at Loaded Orygun.)

The Oregon News Limerick Challenge on KPOJ

Special this week: Christine's back! And she's brought with her the ominous threat of the "Thirty-point Inspection," plus her love of spiny frogs.

(More Oregon news limericks, plus the answers, here.)

The weekly Oregon news limerick challenge

(Update: The answers are now posted in the comments section below.)

For security and safety reasons, the answers to this week's Oregon News Limericks have been tucked under the accelerator pedal of an unmarked Toyota sedan until 7:15 Monday morning, at which time they (or at least their charred remains) will removed and read by quizmaster TJ of Loaded Orygun, and answered by Carl, Christine, and Paul, on the KPOJ 620AM's Carl + Christine show.

The answers will be posted in the comments section below after the show's over tomorrow.

For your ease of rhyming, none of this week's limericks uses the words chimney, citrus, scissors, orange, or Nantucket. Ready? Begin!

In Clackamas, or so we have heard,
The lines of free speech can get blurred
One man opted to linger
After raising his finger,
And got busted for ________________.


Arizona and Kansas said, 'Fine!'
And Washington thinks it's divine.
Now it's here and promoting
Oregonians voting
By letting them ________________.


Texas cages and kennels were clogged,
But it turns out that that was prologue:
They're cute and they're tiny--
Nocturnal and spiny--
So we welcome those rescued _____________.


Green advocates touted their charms,
But their side effects raise some alarms.
Certain flora and fauna
Might soon be a gauna,
Say opponents of Oregon ____________ .

Bonus limerick: This week Mad Kane waxes poetic about National Grammar Day and the odious Lynne Cheney. (Does anyone ever "wane poetic?" Not MK, apparently.)

(Cross-posted at Loaded Orygun.)

Sunday morning toons: Special "Meddling with the very fabric of time itself" edition

That's the theme this week, and it starts with the possibility of an end to Saturday mail delivery. Where can it lead? Only time can tell.

Let's start with this week's Daryl Cagle toon round-up.

p3 Picks of the Week: Mike Luckovich, Daryl Cagle, Pat Bagley, John Trever, John Darkow, Steve Sack, Milt Priggee, Joe Heller, Jeff Stahler, Brian Fairrington, Ed Stein, and Monte Wolverton.

p3 Award for Best Adaptation From Another Medium (tie): Bill Day and Jeff Darcy.

p3 World Toon Review: Cam Cardow (Canada), Patrick Chappatte (Switzerland), Stephane Peray, (Thailand), Frederick Deligne (France), Petar Pismestrovic (Austria), and Jeremy Nell (South Africa).


Ann Telnaes pays tribute to a politician who's left his mark on the body politic.


Meddling with the very fabric of time and space itself, Part 1: So, is gravity a socialist plot? Maybe it really is a parachute of big-government viciousness feeding on the blood of the fallen, but Mark Fiore thinks it might be time to pull the damned cord--metaphorically speaking.


Meddling with the very fabric of time and space itself, Part 2: Ever wish that tomorrow you could get out of that jam you got into last week? Well, Tom the Dancing Bug says now you can!


Hint: Technically, the dung is the one in the middle. Kevin Moore gives the Nature Channel treatment to those wonderful people who gave us Keep America Safe.


Portland homeboy Jack Ohman returns us to the fundamentals on health care.


Meddling with the fabric of time and space itself, Part 3: Last week's toon review featured 1948 Tex Avery animation where things got a little bit surreal. If you thought some of that Daliesque imagery in "The Cat that Hated People" seemed familiar, there's a reason: For some reason, that imagery was passed around--let's be generous and say "borrowed"--by several artists Warner Bros., MGM, and even TerryToons from the 1930s through the 1950s. You can read the list of cartoons that lifted those ideas and images here, but today we've got the 1938 Bob Clampett black-and-white from Warner Bros. that started it all: The one--the only--"Porky in Wackyland." Brace yourself.

(Note: If the embedded image doesn't want to load, here's the link.)

p3 Bonus Toon: Meddling with the very fabric of time and space itself, Part 4: When you mess with time, as Jesse Springer observes, you can wind up with temporal anomalies like this:



Remember to bookmark:

Slate's political cartoon for the day.

And Time's cartoons of the week.

Saturday tunes: "In a Mist"

I think--not sure, but I think--yesterday was my friend Marilyn's birthday. If not yesterday, it's tomorrow. If I could figure out how to get back in touch with her, I could ask her for sure.

Since I can't, this is dedicated to her. She's always been a Marian McPartland fan.

The Oregon News Limerick Challenge on KPOJ

Special this week: We learned the hard way: Rhyme and phrasing patterns that look quite clever on the printed page--for example, "demise, or" and "wiser"--are twelve different kinds of death on live radio.

(More Oregon news limericks, plus the answers, here.)